Much ado about little

Though the White House sought to play down the significance of the first face-to-face meeting between United States (US) President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in over a year, the outcome of four hours of talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference was underwhelming. No joint statement followed the talks at a century-old mansion with sumptuous hospitality laid on. Two agreements represent the core substance of the talks. One concerns a resumption of military communications, which were suspended after then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year but had become vital after near-misses between Chinese ships and American forces and the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon over US airspace. Under this agreement, senior